John Penrose MP has reacted to the news that the Energy Regulator has decided to raise the Government’s energy safeguard tariff, which stops suppliers from charging vulnerable customers too much, from April 2018. Currently for dual fuel prepayment customers, the cap is set at £1,031, but will rise by £58 to £1,089.
John said: “Ofgem seems to think it can predict what the wholesale price of energy will be in the summer, and set its price cap accordingly.
“But any energy trader will tell you that’s impossible. No-one’s that clever, and certainly not a slow-moving regulator.
“Wholesale energy prices change every day, so customers aren’t helped by a regulator that meets every six months to pick a number which is out-of-date as soon as it is announced.
“The government’s own adviser, Professor Dieter Helm, says official energy forecasting has produced ‘spectacularly bad’ results. And yet here it is, playing with vulnerable families’ lives and budgets by having another go.”